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How to Apply

Selection Criteria
  • The Christopher J. Georges Award competition is open to all student reporters from the colleges that participate in the Georges Collegiate Weekend, which is held annually at the Nieman Foundation.

  • Each school may submit one entry, which may be either a single story or a multipart series. Each submission should represent in-depth reporting on a policy issue of importance affecting the campus, community, or beyond. Particular attention should be paid to delving beneath the surface of the story and presenting all sides of its complexities with fairness and accuracy.

  • The article should also reflect the principles of the journalist the award is named for, Christopher J. Georges.

  • Any article/series written and published in the period January 1, 2008 - January 31, 2009 may be submitted for consideration.
2009 Deadline
All applications must be postmarked no later than Friday, February 6, 2009.

Award Details
The award amount in 2009 is $2,000 for each principal reporter, with an additional $1,000 for the principal editor of the winning piece.

If the winning entry is co-authored by more than two reporters, the total reporters’ award amount will remain capped at $4,000, to be shared equally among the winning reporters if the labor was equally shared.

If there are several strong contenders for the award, a runner-up prize may be issued in the amount of $1,000.

The winners of the award are expected to attend the Georges Collegiate Weekend at the Nieman Foundation at Harvard to receive the award and in accepting, will talk briefly about the winning piece and the effort that went into it. The 2009 conference will take place April 3-4, 2009.

The winning entry may be posted on the Nieman Web site and/or published in other Nieman Foundation publications.

Applications should include the following information:
  • Three original copies (tear sheets) of the submission

  • College newspaper name

  • Reporter’s name, class year, home and school address, telephone number, e-mail address

  • Editor’s name, class year, home and school address, telephone number, e-mail address

  • Brief biographical sketches of the reporter(s) and editor

  • A selection of published work by the reporter

  • A cover letter with a statement from the reporter explaining how the entry fulfills the award requirement to “represent in-depth reporting on a policy issue of importance affecting the campus, community, or beyond” and emulates the journalism of Christopher J. Georges. Feel free to include any relevant background information on how the story was reported.